Call My Name
by heartsways
Summary: Emma and Regina don't really use pet names. And here's why...


**Title:** Call My Name  
**Author: **heartsways  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Fandom: **Once Upon A Time  
**Pairing:** Regina/Emma  
**Disclaimer:** All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.  
**Summary: **Emma and Regina don't really use pet names. And here's why…  
**Author's Note:** You can find me on twitter: heartsways or on tumblr

"Babe?"

Emma rolled over, pulling at the sheet that was already sliding off her body, resting her head on her hand.

"No." Regina didn't even open her eyes, her voice an abrupt, damning negative.

"Okay…how about sweetie?"

Regina's mouth opened for a moment before she let out an impatient sigh. "No."

Emma blinked, frowning a little. Inching closer to Regina's naked body underneath the sheet, she slid an arm over the soft skin of the other woman's torso.

"Honey?" she said in a low, seductive tone.

Now Regina's eyes flicked open and she turned her head, fixing Emma with a venomous glare. "Absolutely not!" she barked.

"Well Jesus, Regina, what **can** I call you?" Emma let out a growl of dissatisfaction and flopped onto her back.

Leaning up over the blonde, Regina's mouth curved in a distinctly smug smile as she looked down at Emma, meeting her eyes and holding her gaze for a protracted moment.

"I seem to remember you calling me some rather choice names about thirty minutes ago," she murmured, gratified by the flush that colored Emma's cheeks.

"Yeah, well, I was talking about names I can use in public," Emma glowered at Regina, but put a proprietary hand onto the other woman's hip and pulled her a little closer. "It's what normal couples do, you know. Have pet names."

"And since when have **we** been a normal couple?" Regina's eyebrow rose in enquiry. "Normal couples, to the best of my knowledge, aren't an Evil Queen and the Savior of Fairy Tale Land."

"Hey," Emma frowned. "It's **ex** Evil Queen, right?"

A familiar, wicked smirk slid over Regina's mouth as she inched closer to Emma. "If you say so, dear."

"Whatever," Emma grumbled, aggrieved to hear Regina's chuckle even as the other woman nuzzled against her neck, lips finding the spot that made Emma shiver when the tip of a tongue swirled around it.

"I just want to know what to call you," Emma sighed, as Regina settled beside her, a leg thrown carelessly over the blonde's.

"I already have a name that's perfectly reasonable. Try that."

"That's not what I meant…" Emma sighed again, fingertips trailing over Regina's shoulder and down her upper arm. "Jeez, Regina. Do you have to make **everything** so hard?"

Now Regina pushed herself upwards, peering into Emma's face, concern flickering through her gaze.

"Is this…is this important to you?" she asked.

"No!" Emma gave a heartily fake laugh and screwed up her face as though Regina was insane for even suggesting it. "Not…no. Not really."

Her bluff and bravado faltered slightly underneath Regina's withering gaze, and after only a few moments the blonde wilted completely. Regina smiled, her eyes filling with an affection Emma had only ever seen directed at Henry. So she shrugged and relented, any irritation she might have felt towards the Mayor dissipating almost instantly.

"It's not **unimportant** to me," she said ruefully. "But it's not like I need it or anything," she added hastily, squirming a little under the amused twinkle that entered Regina's eyes.

"Of course not, dear," Regina said, having the temerity to pat Emma's arm in a comforting, condescending gesture.

"I wish I'd never mentioned it," Emma muttered, wondering how soon she could extricate herself from Regina's arms, her bed, and quite possibly the entire state of Maine.

Regina laughed again, dropping a gentle kiss onto Emma's shoulder. "I'm glad you did," she said. As two startled green eyes turned upon her, she shrugged a little.

"We **are** in a relationship and, as such, I suppose nicknames – " her lips twisted a little in barely restrained distaste over the mere concept, " – do come with the territory. Or so I've heard."

"We don't have to – " Emma began, but Regina squeezed her hand under the sheet and assumed a grave expression.

"No to the following, " she said. "Sweetie, honey, snookums, babycakes, sweetheart, pumpkin…"

"**Pumpkin**?" Emma echoed, her mouth turning down. "Oh god. People **actually** call one another that? That's…that's…god, that's offensive!"

"Quite," Regina agreed.

"Well, when you put it like that," Emma said in a low tone of disgust, "maybe I can live without a pet name for you."

"It really doesn't matter what we call one another," Regina said gently, nestling against Emma's shoulder. "This is a rather unconventional relationship, after all, so I think we can dispense with the things that other couples do."

Emma was wholly unprepared for the feeling that spread through her body, a rush of warmth in her chest and an acknowledgement that maybe an Evil Queen and a Savior could find some common ground, after all. _Ex Evil Queen_, she reminded herself with a faint smile, as Regina settled beside her and Emma felt herself begin to relax. It didn't really matter what other people did, she told herself. As long as she and Regina knew who they were to one another, all the pet names in the world couldn't prove otherwise.

They lay in silence, wrapped in one another's arms, limbs a tangle of warm skin until Emma took a breath.

"How about Gina?" she proffered.

"Out of the question."


End file.
